Currently, numerous structures exist for direct online communications. The current solutions for providing interactivity and user control, however, are limited in the amount of user control that they provide for an audience member. These online communications applications limit flexibility, integration, and user selections in a variety of ways in order to streamline and limit the size and complexity of the application.
For example, current direct online applications limit flexibility by restricting the amount of customization that can be achieved within an individual communications component. None of the existing direct online platforms use a completely separate, encapsulated architecture for implementing communications component customization per webcast, and none of them allow an audience member to set up and view a webcast per their own interests. They also limit integration by restricting the amount of interactivity provided to a highly-customized communications. For example, existing webcasting platforms do not have an open platform for integrating third-party communications components of any significant size or complexity. The integration of third-party communications components in communication applications are limited in direct communications to simple image or animation components. Attempts to expand flexibility in current solutions involve creation of a collection of closed “widgets” which become the non-expandable limitations of the application.
Downloaded executable installed applications do exist currently that use a component model, but the requirement to download, execute, and install a desktop executable application in a client computer make the current use of these indirect executable applications less secure and more cumbersome from an initial use perspective. None of the existing applications function in a context that is fully-online, without a downloaded desktop application.